Please, oh please, let the BCS bedlam rain down

BCS chaos is on the horizon, and I’m enjoying it while I still can.


Four undefeated teams — Alabama, Kansas State, Notre Dame and Oregon — are vying for two spots. And since Alabama has as tight of a hold onto No. 1 as LSU head coach Les Miles does on grass eating, it’s really a race for No. 2.

In the latest BCS standings, Oregon is No. 4, Notre Dame No. 3 and Kansas State — led by its 73-year-old head coach and Heisman-leading quarterback with the best nickname in sports, Optimus Klein — sits at No. 2.

If everyone wins out, good luck deciding who deserves the chance to have their lunch handed to them by Alabama.

Of course, that assumes the Crimson Tide can beat No. 5 LSU on the road Saturday, then No. 16 Texas A&M before taking another highly ranked SEC east opponent in the conference championship game.

Speaking of avoiding losses, to this point of the season, Oregon has feasted upon a buffet of cupcakes like Arkansas State, Tennessee Tech and Colorado.

Can the Ducks beat USC twice (assuming they’ll play this Saturday and again in the Pac-12 championship), No. 14 Stanford at home and No. 11 Oregon State in Corvallis?

Kansas State still has two ranked teams on its schedule, and while the Irish take on Pittsburgh, Boston College and Wake Forest (the three are a combined 10-14) the next three weeks, USC waits on the other side.

If two of the top four lose, then any problems of deciding who “deserves” to reach the BCS championship are moot points.

But any other combination and the talking heads on TV may explode as they attempt to explain why one team did or didn’t get in ahead of another.

It’s this kind of controversy that has had college football fans clamoring for a playoff since, well, forever.

Howls and complaints from Boise down to Fayetteville, Ark., and up to Hartford, Conn., built a steady drumbeat among the masses demanding an equitable system that determines a champion on the field.

But as America’s second-most popular sport is on the precipice of leaving behind the controversy that has enveloped the game, I’m drinking up all this BCS talk like its holy water from the Grail in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.”   

That’s right, folks, I love the BCS.

Remember when Boise State (Bronco fans, plug your ears) missed a field goal against Nevada Dec. 4, 2010. For lovers of all things blue, it was a devastating, heartbreaking loss.

For all non-Broncos, however, it was captivating television.

Now think all the way back to last Saturday when Notre Dame beat Oklahoma. Going in, everyone knew that if the Irish wanted to stay in national championship contention, they had to beat the Sooners. Tell me that added pressure didn’t propel the meaning and importance of the game to another level.

Yes, playoffs are exciting. And the four-team playoff set to start in 2014 will keep the regular season nearly as dramatic as it is now. But four teams won’t be enough. Team No. 5 and its fan base will cry foul.

And just like the NCAA tournament (32 teams in 1978 and 68 teams today) and the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs (four teams in 1978 and 24 teams by 2013), the field will expand.

As the number of teams that reach the post season grows, the importance of games in September, October and November will diminish.

We’re giving up an entire season worth of playoff games.

It’s why I’d love nothing more than for complete and utter BCS chaos to finish off this season.

Just remember, while everyone is cursing BCS computers in the coming weeks, I’ll soak it all in knowing that soon, too soon, college football will lose a regular season that was pure magic for three months every year.

A memorable night in Malad

One week ago from today, I had the sports experience of a lifetime.

I can honestly say that after two hours of driving, three and a half hours watching two volleyball matches with nine games and one state title berth at stake, there was no where I would have rather been last Wednesday night than Malad High School.

It was unbelievable. I’d be remiss if I didn’t take this space to relive the memories and retell the story.

Before the 2A Fifth District volleyball tournament, the Malad Dragons had not only never lost a match in district play this season but Malad hadn’t even dropped a game.

With the district tournament on their home turf, the Dragons were the overwhelming favorite to earn the district’s one — and only one — state tournament berth.

West Side, meanwhile, lost to the Dragons in four sets in their second game of the tournament, and after working their way through the loser’s bracket faced the daunting task of beating Malad not just once, but twice.

The defending state champions were a formidable foe, though, and the Pirates took the floor with a pugnacious attitude.

The best way to describe how West Side competed is to say that they played with an absolute abandon.

There are few sports like volleyball where one seemingly insignificant point can loom so large in a brief moment of time. After a Pirates kill — one, more often than not, from junior Casey Rich  — players on the bench and court would explode with exuberance.

Those outbursts of energy, of pure unadulterated enthusiasm, rebounded off the walls of that cracker box gym, and all I could do was soak it in.

I call Malad’s gym a cracker box in the most affectionate way possible because the Dragons and Pirates were two characters in this match, but what truly set the experience apart was the stage it took place in.

Malad’s gym isn’t new. But its age, lack of glamour and low ceiling, requiring players to repeatedly adjust their play mid-volley after the ball ricocheted off it, are all factors that heightened the experience.

That gym — they call it the Dragon Dungeon — has character. Countless banners line the walls signifying Malad’s athletic prowess from days since past and a few from not so long ago.

One banner over the entrance said the boys’ basketball team won 68 straight games there from 1991-1997.

Fans of Malad could only hope that kind of home-court advantage could help boost their volleyball team, because the Pirates — who had enough people make the 31-mile trip from Dayton that they occupied half the seating — beat the Dragons in five sets the first match.

Entering the night, Malad, from an outsider’s perspective, was all but guaranteed a district championship. A team that hadn’t lost all season had to lose twice at home.

But all of the sudden, West Side’s varsity roster, packed with seniors and juniors, seemed to possess an advantage over Malad’s starting six that included one freshman, two sophomores, two juniors and one senior.

The Dragons, however, led by senior Heidi Hannah, junior Brooke Sorensen and sophomore Aubrey King showed some grit of their own — something they had been building on since last season.

"West Side beat us last year in the district tournament,” said Malad head coach Camie Tripp. “Hard fought again, much like this. Then they went to state and won. For us that was just like our wake-up call. That’s how close we were.”

I don’t know if it was home-court advantage, King’s brilliant play or fate, but Malad won the first two games of the championship match, winner take all 27-25, 28-26.

After dropping the third game, Malad finally finished off West Side in the fourth set.

By the end, I was exhausted. I was exhilarated for the Dragons and crestfallen for the Pirates.

Now, in their first game of 3A state tournament Friday at Hillcrest High School, Malad plays Grangeville at 10 a.m.

I only wish West Side could join them.

Like any champion, ISU must avoid complacency

Sports clichés are about as tired as the Tim Tebow storyline in New York.

But one of them has defined the offseason for ISU women’s basketball, and it’s too irresistible not to explore until I beat it into the ground deeper than Idaho’s chances of reaching a bowl game.

Here it is: Can the ISU women, winners of the 2011-12 Big Sky Championship, adjust to playing with a target on their back?

I don’t want to dramatize ISU’s run to the Big Sky title to a fulsome degree, but the Bengals were three games better than the second place Northern Colorado Bears. Last year’s nine-game winning streak, a road sweep of the Montana schools and wins over Boise State and Utah State highlighted the season.
   
With nearly the entire roster back, excitement over this year is nearly bubbling over.
   
Here’s the rub. How will this group react to adversity?
   
Idaho State was tabbed to finish fifth by both the coaches and media last year. As the wins mounted, the Bengals were simply enjoying the ride, exceeding predictions on the way to the pinnacle of the Big Sky.
   
ISU largely avoided injuries, won on its home court and clawed out road win after road win. And they did it all without shouldering the weight of expectations.
   
What happens when they stumble in 2012-13? Media folks will constantly badger head coach Seton Sobolewski and his team asking, “What’s wrong? Why aren’t you as good? How can this team get back to how it was playing last season?”
   
So it’s not just about dealing with that invisible target. It’s not just that every team in the conference has schemed, prepared and theorized about ways to beat ISU since last March.
   
Now, internally, the Bengals must embrace the burden that any favorite carries.
   
Of course, this problem, if it should even be referred to in that manner, is one anybody would love to accept.
   
And it’s not like Sobolewski put his feet up this offseason and went into hibernation. He and his staff understand that no champion can expect to defend their title without a few new tactics.
   
The New England Patriots, running on a decade plus of wild success, transformed from a defense-first, hard nosed team to a high-scoring juggernaut with Randy Moss running wild to today, a dual tight-end, short passing team.
   
The Miami Heat, after falling short against Dallas in the finals, responded in its next finals’ appearance and put Lebron James in the post while playing small ball against Oklahoma City.
   
What can ISU do differently?
   
“It’s a lot more offensive minded,” said senior guard Kaela Oakes. “We’re trying to really excel offensively.”
   
Sobolewski  added, “We’re going to implement a few new things on offense, see if we can score a few more points.”
   
Senior forward Ashleigh Vella remarked, “This year, we’re really fit. We’re really athletic, so maybe we can use that to our advantage.”
   
The challenge is to push the envelope on offense but remain as stifling as ever on defense where the Bengals were second only to the Bears of Northern Colorado in points per game allowed.
   
Challengers to the title are voraciously awaiting their opportunity to knock off ISU, and questions are swirling about the team.
   
But the questions are for the media and fans.
   
I’ll let Sobolewski add one more cliché.
   
“We don’t focus on the big picture as much as taking individual steps,” he said. “We’ve got to win one game at a time.”
   
Eighteen days and counting until ISU welcomes Colorado State Pueblo.   

Big Sky Power Rankings -- 3

This is where we size up all 13 teams in the Big Sky and evaluate each based on a combination of factors.

We missed updating the standings last week. Much like the San Diego Chargers, we're maddeningly inconsistent. But we view Tom Brady's consistency with great regard and hope to emulate his play more as the weeks progress.

Four Big Sky teams appear in the Sports Network FCS Top-25 College Football Poll this week. Montana State, amazingly, stays at No. 2. The Bobcats have three first place votes. We find this highly disconcerting. Clearly, those three people have either not watched a moment of MSU's play the past few weeks, or a die-hard Bobcat fan is holding them hostage. Folks, seriously, let's start an investigation.

Eastern Washington is at No. 6 this week. Cal Poly continues its climb up the polls, jumping five spots to No. 15. Northern Arizona is right behind at No. 16.

Montana, Sacramento State, North Dakota and UC Davis all received votes (we can only assume the pollster who put the Aggies in their poll mistakenly read their record as 4-2 and not 2-4).

Without further ado ...

1. Eastern Washington Eagles 4-1, 3-0 (PF:159 , PA: 96 ) (previously: 2)
Last week: beat Northern Dakota at home 55-17
This week: at Montana State

The top spot in these rankings has vacillated nearly as much as Tony Romo's play. But we firmly believe we've found the best team in the Eagles.

And by putting Eastern at No. 1, you can assume who we think will win the top-10 matchup in Bozeman Saturday.

The Eagles have lost two in a row to Montana State, but behind freshman phenom Vernon Adams, Eastern is going to escape Bobcat Stadium with a 38 to 34 win. Mark it down. 

2. Montana State Bobcats, 6-0, 3-0 (PF: 223, PA: 139) (previously: 1)

Last week: beat UC Davis 48-41in Davis, Calif.

This week: vs. Eastern Washington

We've seen a number of articles that center around the idea that Montana State's starting quarterback, Denarius McGhee, 'just makes stuff happen."

The narrative around McGhee is that he's a winner — which, actually, is absolutely correct. In his career, the junior quarterback has won 25 games since he started his redshirt freshman season.

But the Bobcats have turned the ball over eight times in the past two weeks, and MSU is -5 in turnover differential for the season (meaning the Bobcats have five more offensive turnovers than defensive takeaways). In contrast, Cal Poly is plus eight.

We lay much of that blame at the feet of McGhee. Much of his "playmaking" leads to turnovers. The Bobcats have nearly gagged away three games because of the way they've fumbled the ball or threw it to the wrong colored jersey.

With McGhee, after he scrambles outside the pocket, opposing fans close their eyes expecting him to find someone deep for a first down (or for McGhee to dash downfield himself). Meanwhile, Bobcat fans want to close their eyes because it's the most likely time that he'll throw a pick or have another costly fumble

There's no middle ground!

An optimist (or Bobcat fan) would say, "Well, he made the plays when he's had to, and by game's end the good outweighs the bad."

A pessimist (or Bobcat opponent) would say, "McGhee can play hero ball against Southern Utah and UC Davis, but when the Cats take on quality opponents like Eastern Washington, he can't continually put his defense in bad spots and reverse momentum with boneheaded plays. Sometimes it's OK to win the fire position battle."

It seems like everything in the media is playing into the notion that McGhee is an elite level guy who is good enough to lead MSU to a championship (hence the No. 2 ranking).

But we don't know. The more we watch McGhee's disregard for ball security and field position the more we want to sell Montana State's stock.

On the other hand, MSU's defensive line is filthy good, the offense averages a league best 37.2 points per game and the home-field advantage against Eastern may be just enough to push the Cats over Eastern.

3. Cal Poly Mustangs, 5-0, 3-0 (PF: 173 PA: 96) (previously: 4)
Last week: beat Weber State 45-23 in Ogden, Utah

This week: vs. Northern Colorado

The Mustangs are tied with Eastern for the top-ranked scoring defense in the Big Sky (19.2 points per game). 

Cal Poly rushes for 310 yards a game, the best in the conference.

Behind only MSU, Cal Poly converts the most third down attempts in the Big Sky.

And, as mentioned earlier, the Mustangs are plus eight in turnover differential.

Oh, and Cal Poly does not have either Eastern, MSU or Montana on its conference schedule!

If the Mustangs can beat win out at home against Northern Colorado and Idaho State, and then beat Sacramento State and Northern Arizona on the road ... then, ladies and gentlemen, we present the 2012 Big Sky conference champions!

(One note. Cal Poly does play in Cheney, Wash., Nov. 3, but it's a nonconference game. No, we do not understand how this makes sense either.)

4. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks, 4-1, 2-0 (PF: 157 PA: 118) (previously: 3)
Last week: bye
This week: at North Dakota

We moved the Lumberjacks down not because of anything they did or didn't do. Instead, it's based more on Cal Poly's merits.

If you asked us a few weeks earlier to point to a big game for NAU, we would have readily hinted at the Lumberjacks' trip east to Bismark. But mascot-less North Dakota has been outscored 90-34 in its past two games.

It leads us to believe that, off a bye week, NAU should leave the Alerus Center with a win.

5. Sacramento State 4-2, 2-1 (PF: 171 PA: 182) (previously 9)
Last week: beat Southern Utah 27-22 on the road
This week: vs. Weber State

After pummeling Idaho State (a bit of theme developing in the conference) Sacramento State traveled to Southern Utah and ground out a good road win.

Down 16-7 at half, the Hornets outscored Southern Utah 20-6 in the final two quarters. Most impressively, Sac. State QB Garrett Safron led his team on two 10+ play, 80-yard drives at the end of the third and in the middle of the fourth quarter to down the Thunderbirds.

We like their mettle.

But statistically, the Hornets are really average in just about every category. Beating Southern Utah and ISU is good, however, games against Eastern, Cal Poly and MSU will answer any of our questions.

6. Montana Grizzlies, 3-3, 1-2 (PF: 193 PA: 163) (previously: 6)

Last week: beat Northern Colorado 40-17 on the road
This week: vs. Southern Utah

After a two game slide, there's nothing better than a game against Northern Colorado, right?

The Griz piled up 452 yards in Greeley Colo., and Peter Nguyen accumulated 178 all-purpose yards as Montana cruised to its first conference win.

It was difficult to imagine the Griz fading away from playoff contention without putting up a fight. And the schedule actually matches up pretty well for Montana. After hosting Southern Utah Saturday, the Grizzlies travel to North Dakota, host Idaho State and then travel to Weber.

We expect UM to be 7-3 overall and 5-2 in conference play as they get ready to host rival Montana State Nov. 17.

7. Southern Utah Thunderbirds, 2-4, 1-2 (PF: 167 PA: 200) (previously: 7)
Last week: lost to Sacramento State 27-22 at home
This week: at Montana

Two weeks, the Thunderbirds were 2-2 overall and 1-0 in conference play. With two home games against MSU and Sac. State, Southern Utah had its opportunities to really add an exclamation point to their season.

But a seven point loss to the Cats and five point loss to Sac. State derailed their season. With Montana this Saturday, Eastern Oct. 27 and Northern Arizona Nov. 10, we expect SU to finish its first season in the Big Sky under .500.

What's gone wrong for the Birds? Well, only Weber and ISU's defenses give up more points per game. And  senior-stud Brad Sorensen has been forced to push the envelope offensively. While Sorensen as 14 touchdown passes, he's also tossed eight picks. Right now, Southern Utah lacks elite offensive talent.
 8. Portland State Vikings, 2-4, 1-2 (PF: 217 PA: 200) (previously: 8)
Last week: beat Idaho State 77-10 at home
This week: bye

How many people saw the PSU/ISU scoreline last Saturday and assumed it was a typo? 

 

Craziest stat from the game? It wasn't that the Vikings had 437 rushing yards or 758 total yards. It wasn't that four, four!, rushers for PSU averaged more than 10 yards per carry. 

No, it was that the Vikings punted four times in the game and STILL SCORED 77 POINTS! (OK, so the Portland State defense scored twice themselves, but don't ruin the story.)

We move PSU up to No. 7 in our rankings not because we're particularly impressed by the dominant victory, but more because ... well, the middles of the conference is pretty ugly at this point.
9. UC Davis, 2-4, 1-2 (PF: 160 PA: 149) (previously: 12)
Last week: lost to Montana State 48-41 at home
This week: at Idaho State

Did we mention that UC Davis, at a stellar 2-4, received a vote in The Sports Network FCS Top 25?

Ridiculous.

On the bright side, UC Davis looks like a beautiful place.

10. North Dakota, 3-3, 1-2 (PF: 221 PA: 189) (previously: 5)

Last week: lost to Eastern Washington 55-17 on the road
This week: vs. Northern Arizona

We had North Dakota as high as No. 5 in our rankings, and we haven't forgotten that 35-13 win at Sacramento State Sept. 22. But losing by a total of 56 points the past two weeks, the committee (of one) is compelled to move mascot-less North Dakota down in the power rankings.

Can UND right the ship at home against the Lumberjacks? Better question, can North Dakota slow down Zach Bauman, who has seven rushing touchdowns and is averaging 6.6 yards per carry?
11. Northern Colorado Bears, 1-4, 0-2 (PF: 90 PA: 153) (previously: 12)
Last week: lost to Montana 40-17 at home
This week: at Cal Poly

Against FCS level competition, the Bears have been outscored 109-50. And as lucky as Cal Poly and Northern Arizona with their conference schedules, Northern Colorado wasn't.

Montana, Montana State, Cal Poly and Northern Arizona in about a month's time frame. But, hey Bears' fans, you get to play Idaho State Oct. 20!

12. Weber State Wildcats, 0-6, 0-3 (PF: 106 PA: 231) (previously: 11)
Last week: lost to to Cal Poly 45-23 at home
This week: at Sacramento State

How does a team that's been outscored by an average of 20.8 points per game, and hasn't won anything more than a coin toss not be at the bottom of these rankings? Please read below.

13. Idaho State Bengals, 1-1 (PF: 66 PA: 127) (previously: 10)
Last week: lost to Portland State 7-10 on the road
This week: vs. UC Davis

What's there to say about the debacle that's ISU football right now? In Big Sky play, opponents have outscored the Bengals 104-18 in the last six quarters.

In their last three games, the Bengals have been outscored by an average of 52 points per game.

Quarterback Kevin Yost is leading the conference in passing yards per game, but he's only ninth in passing efficiency and has seven interceptions to nine touchdowns.

We won't belabor the point. The Bengals stink.